Haskell

"abc" is syntactic sugar for 'a': 'b': 'c': []

a:b:c:d is shorthand for a:b:(c:d)

Pattern matching

Values are pattern matched («deconstructed») by writing however they were constructed.

let (x, y, z) = (42, 99, 7) in …
let (char1:char_2:char3:[]) = "abc" in …

-- Use underscore for 'throw away' values:

let (first_char:_:_:[]) = "abc" in first_char